First Eagle Investment Management LLC Has $1.81 Billion Holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,390,108 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,768,855 shares during the quarter. Wheaton Precious Metals makes up about 3.2% of First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $1,808,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 809,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,886,000 after buying an additional 69,496 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 68,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,659,000 after buying an additional 19,050 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the 3rd quarter worth $11,355,000. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 207,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,210,000 after buying an additional 16,300 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 7,252,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $811,726,000 after buying an additional 244,027 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Up 3.7%

Shares of WPM stock opened at $143.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $65.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.36, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.50. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 52 week low of $75.42 and a 52 week high of $165.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $138.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.45.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.04. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 65.55% and a return on equity of 20.20%. The firm had revenue of $901.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $868.35 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. Wheaton Precious Metals’s revenue for the quarter was up 91.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be issued a $0.195 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. UBS Group raised shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.45.

Wheaton Precious Metals Profile

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. is a Canada-based precious metals streaming company that acquires and manages long-term purchase agreements for metals produced by mining companies. Rather than operating mines, Wheaton provides upfront and ongoing financing to miners in exchange for the right to purchase a portion of the metals produced — typically silver and gold, and occasionally other precious metals — at predetermined prices. This streaming business model offers investors exposure to metal production with reduced operating and capital-cost risk compared with traditional mining companies.

The company’s activities center on structuring and maintaining a diversified portfolio of streaming agreements across multiple jurisdictions.